Northwest Competence, member of the German EMS-Fehn-Group, has restructured itself internally in order to meet an increasing demand for ISO certifications and other services. At the same time, the company has given itself a new name. Founded in 2009, it was originally called Northwest Crewing. In the beginning, the team focussed on recruiting qualified seafarers for ship owners and managers. However, preparing other companies for ISO certifications soon became a second business field that steadily gained in importance. „We have adjusted our internal organization to this development by separating the business areas more clearly from another,“ says Northwest Competence’s managing director, Jens Feuerhake.
„ISO certifications and other standards have become more and more important in almost all industries over the past years,“ says Feuerhake. By being certified according to the ISO standards 9001, 14001 and 45001, for example, companies prove that they meet international standards with regard to quality, safety, health and environmental protection. However, the certification process and the annually recurring audits require a high level of expertise. In addition, they are often associated with a tremendous effort, especially for small and medium-sized companies. „It’s our job to take on the workload and to make the certification process as lean as possible for our customers,“ says Feuerhake.
„Staff members of Northwest Competence have been dealing with international standards for decades, since standards of this kind have been part of the shipping industry for a long time,“ says Manfred Müller, CEO of EMS-Fehn-Group. „The company early began to prepare other EMS-Fehn-Group companies for audits and reliably guided them to certifications. Today, Northwest Competence is in charge of making sure that all of the group’s 19 companies meet international standards.“ EMS-Fehn-Group offers a vast variety of logistics solutions. It has its own port terminals, seagoing vessels and trucks for special transports. The group is represented in ten countries all across Europe.
Apart from its sister companies, Northwest Competence has assisted numerous external customers in obtaining certificates in recent years as well. „We collaborate with all renowned certification societies. At the same time, the members of our team continuously educate themselves in order to be always up-to-date on existing and new standards,“ says Feuerhake. This way, Northwest Competence is not only able to supply services with regard to the more common ISO certifications, but with respect to further standards as well – one of which is the Safety Culture Ladder (SCL). The SCL measures the degree of safety awareness in a company. The standard has been gaining in importance in a number of industries in the recent past. Located in Leer, Northwest Competence is one of the very few companies in Germany that can offer services regarding the Safety Culture Ladder.
Of course, Northwest Competence will also continue to provide crewing services under its new name. „There is a growing demand in this business area as well,“ Feuerhake says. „This is why we have just enhanced our team.“ Cedric Lorberg, graduate of Maritime Studies at the University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, has taken on the position of Crew Manager and is leading an international team. In addition, he is the central point of contact for all crewing matters at Northwest Competence.
The clear division into two business areas under the name Northwest Competence is also reflected in the design of the new homepage. Visit www.nwcompetence.com to learn more about the company’s variety of services and its team.
For further information, please contact:
EMS-Fehn-Group
Jochen Brandt
Email: marketing@emsship.de
Telefon: 0049 491 928 150
